Holy Shit! Or Crap! Or Boobs! Or Poop! The DC Big Brother Shit Show, on January 30th at the Ace Hotel in downtown L.A., was the craziest thing ever. You walked in the door and the first thing you saw was an archway of rainbow-colored balloons and a big ice sculpture that said, “SHIT” and you knew you were at a Big Brother party. It felt like walking back into the best daze of 1997. Inside, you were greeted by Wee-Man and a funky bunch of vertically challenged people with tie-dyed shirts and chains on. Inflatable sex dolls lurked in the corner and the tabletops were full of candy dookie and sugar-coated lollipops shaped like dicks.
As you walked through the entrance, you saw a huge backdrop that just said “CRAP” and there was Rick Kosick, Jeff Tremaine, Chris Nieratko, Dave England, Dave Carnie, Dimitry Elyashkevich, Chris Pontius, Tobin Yelland, Sean Cliver, WeeMan, Earl Parker, Heather Lee Jones, Preston Acuff, Dennis McGrath, Reda, Marc McKee, Johnny Knoxville and the whole notorious Big Brother crew…
Anyone that was a skateboarder in the ‘90s, I don’t care who you were, you looked at every issue of the mag. Big Brother was all about ejaculating fun, hilarious captions, notable quotables, clever pranks, semi-soft porn, Steve-O stunts, Rick’s Picks, the “Depends Olympics”, Carnie in costumes, field trips to Hustler, informative guides on how to make a fake ID or pound a nail through your penis, and of course, outrageous skateboarding…
The articles that Dave Carnie wrote were just extraordinary… The guy is a genius. And we all know how smart Chris Nieratko is, and every word he writes is ultimately entertaining. I could go on and on and on about Tremaine, McKee, Cliver and Earl, but let’s just say that the Big Brother posse was an eclectic group of brilliant minds that produced some of the most sarcastic, witty, raunchy and beloved journalism in skateboarding history.
The Shit Show was full of luminaries like Ishod Wair, Alphonzo Rawls, Mike Carroll, Chad Muska, Brandon Biebel, Brian Lotti, Gish Thaxton, Daniel Castillo, Chris Casey, Bill Weiss, Robin Fleming, Lindsey Byrnes and Rita Kassak… It was like the ultimate gathering of the black sheep and red-headed stepchildren, mixed with the Oompa Loompas, in the Kingdom of Oz.
It was so cool to see all the guys and globbs in one place again for this event. Many of them have become immensely successful from Jackass, Bad Grandpa, Nitro Circus, Fantasy Factory, WildBoyz and Dickhouse, but at this party, it was as if they all reverted back to the beginning. For a few fleeting hours, they weren’t the dudes from Jackass. They were Big Brother, in a roomful of friends, raucous laughter and dirty jokes. This is one of the best crews there ever was in skate media and the Big Brother book entitled “Shit” is pure-T-amazing. Don’t just sit there reading this review… Get off your backside and buy one right now!
The Best of Big Brother Book: “Shit” is available now through Gingko Press at http://gingkopress.com/shop/big-brother-book/
Cheers to Sean Cliver for putting up with Steve Rocco (and Larry Flynt) for all those years, and for an excellent job editing the tome, which contains some of the best articles, covers and quotes from the mag along with depraved dedications and hysterical explanations of what the hell was going on behind the pages of each issue. Rick Kosick deserves a standing ovation for his contributions and here’s to endless bottoms up for Dimitry, Pontius and the entire Big Brother crew of creators, contributors and certifiable goofballs.
DC Shoes hosted this once-in-a-lifetime event, as well as the DC X Big Brother capsule collection. As Nieratko pointed out, DC was one of Big Brother’s most devout supporters and they never stopped advertising, as many others so weakly chose to do. The DC X Big Brother collection is nuts, complete with Devil Diagram tees, Crap tie dyes, Sultan S SE shoes and a whole line of apparel. The Dave Carnie Cock shoes (designed by Jeff Tremaine) with neon green shag-fur interior and rainbow-colored laces with a dick on the side were on display in a glass case at the show, like the rare gem that they are, but should be put into production ASAP.
The DC X Big Brother capsule collection is available at. http://www.dcshoes.com/big-brother-collection/
If you get it, you get it. If you don’t get it, you never will… Big Brother RIP (1992-2004)
– Words and Photos by Dan Levy
ABOUT THE DC X BIG BROTHER CAPSULE COLLECTION:
DC is proud to partner with legendary skateboard publication Big Brother on a capsule collection for Spring 2016. The collection includes both footwear and apparel and feature classic Big Brother magazine covers that harken back to a time when skateboarding was still considered a sub-culture. The capsule coincides with the release of a limited edition Best of Big Brother book, telling the story and recounting some of the best (and worst) moments of the Big Brother legacy.
« OUR MAGAZINE WOULDN’T BE ANY GOOD IF WE WEREN’T MORE IMMATURE THAN OUR READERS. »
Jeff Tremaine, Managing Editor, BIG BROTHER, issue #10
One Response
FabFuckingTastic Dan!